Once Upon a Time
by Allore NightShadow
Summary: Once upon a time, a miko traveled in time, did her duty to preserve all life, and returned to her home, never to trespass in the past again.She almost began to believe that the past was a dream, but the past never stays buried. Once upon a time...
1. Prolouge

I decided to try my hand at writing Inuyasha fanfiction, being such a fan. Please watch out. This fanfition may have illusions to spoilers from any and all of the episode that have not aired in America, then again, they may not. Please pray to kami-sama that I may remain faithful to this fanfiction.

Once Upon a Time

Prolouge

By: Allore NightShadow

Once upon a time there was a girl named Kagome Higarashi who passed the barrier of five hundred years to find love.

Once upon a time there was a boy named Inuyasha who was damned by love.

Once upon a time there was a great lord named Sesshoumaru who was alone in the world.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Kagome who traveled in time to meet a hanyou named Inuyasha and she fell in love with Inuyasha --He was her first love--, but Kagome was not so fortunate as to have that ever after without having to work for it; the fates were not so kind. Inuyasha was plagued by his past love.

Meet Sesshoumaru-sama, Lord of the Western Lands, and dreaded half-brother of Inuyasha. Thus the first battle began, but Sesshoumaru was not destined to be their enemy, merely a rival working towards the same goal.

Enter the Shikon no tama, a jewel forged by the internal battle of good and evil, humans and demons. Watch it shatter into many pieces. Thus the journey began.

Meet Naraku, dreaded human turned demon out for revenge. Thus began the battle. Thus ended the battle. Thus Naraku was defeated.

Here came the Choosing. Inuyasha chose wrong.

Once upon a time there was a girl who traveled into the past.

Once upon a time.

That time is no more, that fairy tale is over.

This begins a new one.

Once upon a time, a miko traveled in time, did her duty to preserve all life, and returned to her home, never to trespass in the past again. She lived in a shrine with her grandfather, mother, and younger brother. She almost began to believe that the past had never happened, that it was all a dream, but the past never stays buried.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Kagome Higarashi.

Thus it started again, another epic fairy tale.

Allore NightShadow

Okay, not an actual chapter. I wrote what came to me. Be nice and I'll get the first chapter out soon. I would like to know what you think of my writing style so far, though.

I love you all.


	2. three by three

Alright. Here is Chapter One. I would have made it longer, but I wanted to get it out soon and I had reached a mental block. Here it is. I hope you like it.

Once Upon a Time

Chapter 1

By: Allore NightShadow

Kagome woke with the dawn covered in a sheen of sweat she was used to waking with. It was the fault of her dreams, her nightmares, that she woke like this each night without fail.

She dreamt of the past, the past before the past, the dream that she lived, but never would again.

His words sounded in her head again and again, that last conversation she had.

_Don't be selfish, Kagome. You knew I never loved you. I love Kikyou._

_I love Kikyou. You killed Kikyou._

_But that was never Kikyou. That was the part of me that was like her. That wasn't Kikyou. Kikyou died._

_You killed Kikyou. She should be here, not you._

_Not you. I want you to go away and never come back._

And she never did go back.

Kagome shook her head to rid it of the thoughts that had filled her mind for the past three years. Three years she lived in the past, three years she struggled to live in the present, and three years she had to forget. Their faces were already fading from her memory. She couldn't even remember what any of them looked like. They were simply figures with no face. Even Inuyasha had faded from her memory. That might be a good thing, though.

Everything was so faded that she began to doubt whether it had ever happened. Maybe she really was sick during that entire time. Maybe her trips to the past had just been fever induced dreams that her mind refused to forget completely.

It was not so far beyond belief that everything was a dream. Like a dream, the longer she was awake, the harder it was to remember.

By the time she was up and ready to leave, Inuyasha and the Edo era had completely faded from her mind until they were nothing more than a dream she couldn't remember.

Kagome didn't want to remember anymore.

(o)

Kagome seemed a confident girl. She had long black hair, hair longer than most deemed fashionable in this age, that was tied back at the nape of her neck. She walked down the street and into a large building labeled Tokyo University.'

Upon entering, she approached a information desk.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a mister…" She paused a moment, looking at a piece of paper in her hand. "A mister Taisho."

The person behind the desk, a fairly attractive woman of about thirty, sniffed as she heard the name.

"Oh _him._" She let a not of displeasure sound. "You can find him in the third auditorium, that's the end of the hall to the left. He's lecturing right now, but you can go in and listen to the end of the lecture, miss…"

It was a moment before Kagome realized that she was being asked a question. "Higurashi. My name is Kagome Higurashi."

The lady behind the information desk handed her a visitors pass and sent her on her way.

Kagome went down the hall that she remembered all to well. She had gone here three years before, during a time of depression. She remembered devoting herself so greatly to her work to forget about whatever it had been that was bothering her that she had managed to graduate in three years rather than the usual four.

Kagome pushed the doors open and entered the back of a great room.

"…the legends say, and the miko raised her hands and…" Somebody near the back of the room snickered softly, so softly that Kagome had to strain to hear the noise.

Mr. Taisho didn't seem to have that problem. His head whipped around to focus on the boy in the middle of the room.

"It there a problem, Mister Alexander?" He asked sharply and the boy, overconfident as the younger generation tend to be, answered.

"Yes, there is. This is supposed to be a history class, not story telling. I'm here to learn what happened, not what the legends say happened." The man lecturing glared at the boy and he immediately forgot the rest of what he was planning to say.

"The best way to examine history is to examine the legends and piece together the truth. Every legend has its roots in truth. Who are you to say what is true and what is not true?" He glared at the boy when his mouth opened as if to respond. Mr. Taisho closed his eyes and without opening them, ordered the class to leave, looking up the particular legend and writing down their interpretation on the truth that it was stemmed from.

As his eyed were closed Kagome examined his striking appearance. He had hair that was the lightest white she had ever seen and a complexion that was even paler. She would have thought him a foreigner had he not looked so Japanese. His features were so pale that it was possible he was albino. When he opened his eyes to look at her, he found them not red, as an albino's eyes would be, but the lightest brown she had ever seen, almost golden.

"Speak." He ordered.

Kagome walked a bit closer to him and had a sudden shock to her system. With each step she took towards him, the feeling got stronger and stronger. It was a feeling that she knew, but couldn't identify.

Catching herself and hiding the grimace as she felt the familiar throbbing of her head that happened whenever her bound powers got overactive.

"Sir…" She began, but was unable to get any more words past her lips.

She grasped at the first thing she could find to keep from falling to the ground. That thing, unfortunately, was the man in front of her.

The moment she touched him, the throbbing became blinding, not a pain, per se, but a pressure, an incredible pressure pushing down on her entire being.

"Remove your hand from my person." Kagome heard vaguely, but listening to the man was not important to her at the moment.

She grasped for something to stay in consciousness, but nothing came to her.

Kagome's world went black.

(o)

Allore NightShadow

Okay, another short chapter. I'm sorry, my chapters are usually two to three times longer, but I wasn't sure where to go from here and wanted to get the first chapter posted. Please tell me what you think so far.


	3. And so it begins

I thank you all for your suggestions and those of you who were wondering, my prologue will be explained when the past chases after Kagome (not too long, don't worry. Maybe this chapter of the next). You'll know what it means when it happens. I really hope you like this, but if you don't, that's alright too. I love to write and writing fanfiction is really the only way I can get feedback. Most of what I write is original and I refuse to post that on the internet because I want to get published eventually and I have this horrible fear of plagiarism.

Once Upon a Time

Chapter 2

By: Allore NightShadow

The dreams chased her. They were never ending. They were a blur of faces and words, places and events.

Kagome tossed as she slept.

"No! Kagome, you cant!" A silly looking girl carrying a boomerang bigger than she was said.

"_You don't understand." Said a girl that looked oddly like Kagome. "I have to. This is the only way to stop this. The only way."_

"_Let her go." Said a gruff voice to the side. Kagome couldn't see who it was, but she did sense the tension in the Kagome look alike's face as she ignored the gruff speaker_

"_Yes, let her go." Said another Kagome look alike, but this one was different, colder somehow._

_The first Kagome look alike walked away and nobody followed._

_(o)_

"_Where are you going, ningen?" Asked a cold voice that came from another man or person that she could not see._

_Kagome thought that she should have been scared, but the Kagome look alike was not._

"_Sesshoumaru-sama." She acknowledged to the person Kagome could not see, and walked past him._

"_Do not ignore me, ningen." Said the man as he began to walk next to the Kagome look alike. Kagome saw a flash hair the color of the moon, but that was all._

"_I'm going for Naraku."_

_The Kagome look alike never questioned that the man with the cold voice and the moon colored hair followed her all the way to the place she must be going._

(o)

When Kagome woke, it was dark. She wasn't worried. At least five out of the seven days a week she woke like this, at some time before the sun rose, due to her dreams. The other two days of the week, Kagome didn't sleep at all.

Her dream faded from her memory. Kagome had learned not to try and grasp at the memories, that they never stayed.

She looked around and found herself in her living room, though she didn't remember how she had gotten there.

"Oh, Kagome, you're awake." Her mother said from beside her. There was her brother home from college for the winter holiday, as well as her grandfather looking down at her. It mustn't be very later if her entire family was still awake. Grandpa was always the first to go to sleep.

"This nice man came and dropped you off. He said you just fainted. Carried you in like price charming, too" He mother explained and then gave her a suggestive look.

"It was your powers." Her grandfather said knowingly. "They shouldn't be bound like they are."

"Why did you bind them in the first place?" Kagome asked, sitting up from the couch.

Her grandfather suddenly got abnormally quiet and mother looked the other way. They didn't speak about that time because Kagome had been so miserable then. She didn't speak about it, almost seemed to forget, and they didn't bring it up.

Souta was the one to effectively change the topic. "Why don't you just unbind them? You could do all those cool tricks you used to do."

"Can I do that?" Kagome asked her grandfather.

He was silent for a moment, something that didn't usually happen to him. He wasn't sure that this would be such a good idea. They bound her powers for fear that she would hurt someone, primarily herself, and to unbind them might take her back to that place she was three years ago.

He snuck a look at Kagome's mother who nodded solemnly before he nodded to Kagome.

"I'll take you to Reokan-sama tomorrow." He said.

Kagome nodded before shaking her head. "I can't tomorrow." She said. "It is my first day at my new job."

Her grandfather gave her that look that said, 'What's more important, me or your job?'

"Come on, jii-chan." And she gave him that look that said, 'What kind of grandfather would make me choose?'

"It's tomorrow or not at all, Kagome." He said. He didn't mention that he also needed to stock up on the little trinkets that he sold in his tourist shop. He wasn't going to tell Kagome that he had an alternate reason, though.

Kagome glared at her grandfather before picking up the phone and dialing the number to her soon to be work.

"Hello." She said to the attendant on the other end of the phone. "This is Kagome Higarashi." She paused a moment. "I'm supposed to be starting tomorrow on floor sixty-eight." She paused another moment. "That's right. I'm the expert. I have a family emergency and I'm going to be late." She paused again. "Of course." And then she hung up the phone.

One more glare at her grandfather and she stood up and stalked out of the room.

"Do you really think that was such a good idea?" Kagome's grandfather asked her mother.

"I think," She said, "that it had been long enough and the reason she had then to react the way she did, may not be applicable anymore."

(o)

"Reokan-sama!" Kagome's grandfather called into a large tradition cabin, much like their own home.

"Here already, Higarashi-san?" A tall, elegant man walked into the room. "Oh, you've brought a guest."

"This is my granddaughter, Kagome."

Reokan bowed slightly in the traditional way. "I am honored."

"She needs help." Kagome's grandfather said and in response, Reokan cocked his head to the side as an animal might when faced with a perplexing problem.

"The kind of help you need to go to the back room to do."

Reokan nodded solemnly.

"If you have my package, I'll take it and leave you with Kagome." The eldest Higarashi said, and when Reokan gestured to a box that was situated by the door, he picked it up and left.

"If you'll follow me, Kagome-sama."

The room Kagome was led into was empty of everything but a mat in the center of the room and an inscents burner.

"Please have a seat, Kagome-sama, and tell me what you have come here to do."

Kagome moved to kneel on the mat, but as she got closer to Roekan, she felt something that was almost familiar. Almost, but not quite. Kagome didn't know how she knew.

"You're a demon?" She asked, as if stating, and not asking, a well known fact.

Reokan look surprised and then laughed to himself. "I should have known." Said to her. "You grandfather had bragged that you were, or had been, a very accomplished miko, but alas, your grandfather does not see accomplished in quite the same way that I do, and I discounted this."

Whatever spell Reokan had been using to appear as a human was then dropped. Pointed ears and slitted, cat-like eyes replaced the human features that had been in their place. Kagome felt that she should have been surprised, but instead she felt as if this were perfectly normal, she just could remember why it felt normal.

"My powers were bound and I need the binding undone." She said in response to his question.

"Bound?" He asked, surprised again. "But you felt that I was a…never mind."

He walked over to her and placed his fingertips on her temple and allowed his abnormally sharp finger nails, claws, Kagome supposed, sink into her skin. Kagome flinched, but didn't otherwise move or say anything.

Reokan started to mumble words under his breath for what Kagome figure was only minutes, though it felt like hours.

"There it is!" He exclaimed, and Kagome felt something pulling at her insides.

It was like something was squeezing her insides, squeezing and pushing until there was no more to push. Nothing was physically touching her, but Kagome still felt the power that Reokan exerted into her.

All of a sudden the pressure released itself and Reokan jumped back as if scalded. In fact he was scalded, currently nursing blistering hands.

"That is the last time I work with mikos." He muttered to himself.

"I'm so sorry." Kagome said as she moved towards him to see the damage. Roekan moved away as she moved close.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Your brimming with purification energy. No demon in his right mind would go anywhere near you at this moment. You are glowing, Kagome-sama."

She looked down at her hand and had to squint her eyes against the nearly blinding light. She consciously forced the purification energy that was so familiar and yet so foreign back into her body to lay dormant. She didn't remember the last time she had had these powers.

Within moments of Kagome concentrating on herself, she had seized glowing with the light of purification and Roekan again felt comfortable around her.

"Do I owe you anything?" She asked him.

Roekan shook his head in response. "There is no need, Kagome-sama. I am at the service of the people. But please, come back again, if only just to talk.

Kagome nodded and with a quick assent and thank you, she left.

(o)

Kagome looked up at the skyscraper. The words 'West International' were embossed with gold over the door way. Nobody really knew what exactly the company did, only that it had it's hand, most often as a silent partner, in nearly every large business in Japan.

She walked in, and told a secretary her name and receive a key card. She took that key card and slid it through a key pad that opened a set of doors. She walked down a hallway that ended in an elevator with another keypad. Kagome slid the card through and waited a moment for it to register.

ALL FLOORS ACCESSIBLE flashed across the screen and the doors to the elevator opened. She pressed the button for floor sixty-eight and waited the forty seconds until the elevator opened on that floor with a soft 'ping.'

"I had thought you were supposed to be here three hours ago."

And standing before her was Mr. Taisho. He didn't look happy.

(o)

Allore NightShadow

This isn't as long as I would have liked, but at least it's longer than the last chapter, ne? Please tell me what you think of this so far, okay?

Thank you to all my reviewers.

Pegasus Rider- You know, I had just been reading your fic when I first started writing this.

Gothic-ember- you'll just have to read to find out.

Toxiclollipop- I thank you for your interest.

Candy- My explanation of the prologue will likely be in the next chapter or the one after that. I'm glad you gave me some real suggestions, though. Not many reviewer do that.

Spirit-Wolf25- thank you so much for the review. I love hearing from the people who read my work.

Rubi- In a way, I am trying to make it seem like a fairy tale, but in a way, I'm not. I'm doing this because the cannon Inuyasha was translated as 'a feudal fairy tale.'

Please read and review. Don't forget the comments or critiques!


	4. I'm Kagome Here I am

It took a little longer than I would have like to update, but here I am. I haven't quite figured out where I want to go with this story yet, but within a few chapters I will likely have the entire thing plotted out to some degree. I am really sorry if I don't update as quickly as you would like, but I am nearing the end of my novel. So close…

Okay then, here is what you've been waiting for (at least I hope you've been waiting for it)…

Once Upon a Time

Chapter 3

By: Allore NightShadow

"I thought you were supposed to be here three hours ago."

And standing before her was Taisho-san. He didn't look happy.

"Um… I called yesterday to inform you that I would be late upon coming today." Even to Kagome's own ears, it sounded a meager excuse much like the ones she remembered her classmates giving when they didn't feel like doing their homework.

"I don't care whether you are dying. If you are supposed to be here at 9:00, you will be here at 8:30. Do I make myself clear?"

Kagome glared at the man before her, but wisely kept her mouth shut. She didn't try to force an assent past her lips because once her mouth was open, she didn't know if she would be able to control it. She was often too blunt, one of the downfalls she had recently become concerned with. It had cost her many a job in the past few years.

He glared at her.

She glared at him.

He glared at her.

"_Foolish ningen." _Kagome shook her head at the wayward thought. Maybe he reminded her of someone she had once seen, a character from a movie or television show.

"What exactly would you have me do here? I was not informed." Kagome recalled the phone call she had received five days prior.

"_Good afternoon. I would like to speak to Higarashi-san." _

"_This is her." Kagome had replied, half expecting the person on the other side of the phone to be a solicitor who she would promptly hang up on._

"_This is Saiko from West International. Our company president asked me offer you a position in our company." Kagome had no idea what was going on. She had not sent an application into West International, not yet anyway._

"_I don't understand." Kagome replied._

"_Look," said the woman on the other side of the line, more exasperated than rude. "I don't understand either. The president tells me to do something and I do it or I get fired. He told me to call a Miss Kagome Higarashi and offer her a job and that's what I do. I don't know what goes on in his head. Now, do you want it or not?"_

_Kagome had no reason not to. "Alright. I'll do it."_

"_You will have papers delivered to you by the end of the day giving you phone numbers and information you might need. Please enter the building, you will find the address in the papers, at 9:00 on Monday morning. Thank You very much."_

"_But wait," Kagome said, "What am I supposed to be doing?" She heard only the dial turn in return._

_Later that day, the papers had arrived. It was more like one paper with her name, a telephone number to the front desk, and a floor number._

"What are you going to do?" Taisho-san repeated back to her as he began to walk towards a set of double doors.

Kagome nearly had to run to keep up with him.

"You will be heading my special projects department."

Kagome nearly tripped, but managed to catch herself. A job like that should go to someone who had been in the company for years, not someone like her. Why? Had he just picked her at random to do this. The only thing that managed to get out of her mouth was "Why?"

Taisho-san stopped and faced her causing Kagome to nearly collide with him. He had his people research the best prospective for this job. The applicant had to be able to accept the stranger of people and events, had to be intelligent and had to be very strong willed. For some reason this girl's name kept coming up. Kagome Higarashi, her files went, telling how she lived on shrine grounds, had degrees in Japanese History, Japanese Literature, Japanese Mythology, and the list went one. She had managed a nearly impossible number of degrees in the few years she had went to school. She took so many classes that he was sure that she had not even time enough to sleep.

"You were chosen for this position," he said, carefully weighing what information he could give to her, "because you are human." It was the greatest truth.

Kagome's eyes widened, not sure what that meant. She looked towards Taisho-san in order to demand he explain his statement, but he was gone.

"Higarashi-san?" Asked a women peering out of the double doors.

"Hai." She responded.

"Please come with me." The woman, a nameless beauty, led her through the bustle of the room to the end where yet another set of door lay. They opened to reveal a beautiful office.

Kagome was shocked. Things were not supposed to be this easy. Nobody was supposed to find her and give her a job. She was supposed to work her way through the ranks until she died just below the position that she wanted. She was sure she was missing something, that something was just evading her sight.

It had to be something important. Kagome just didn't know what it was.

(o)

It was easy to hate. After those years that Kagome spent ignoring the hateful words that Inuyasha sent her way, ignoring the way that he always chose Kikyou over her, how she was always just what was left of Kikyou. Kagome was able to hate him.

When push came to shove, she had thought that staying by him would have been enough to show him that, hey, **I am Kagome. Here I am. ** Here I am. But no, he never saw it.

They were fighting Naraku. Sesshoumaru and InuYasha side by side, creating a deadly dance that the brother were always meant to dance. Kagome fighting with all the skill that she had managed to gain during her journey in the Edo Judai.

They fought side by side as Allies should when the final battle came.

And then Kikyou joined, not for good and not for evil, but for her soul. All she wanted was her soul. It wound up being only Kikyou before the demise of Naraku and when she attacked Kagome and Kagome responded with the holy arrow that none of the tainted could deter, Kikyou fell.

Had Naraku not fallen when that holy arrow pierced through Kikyou's body and hit him, he may not have been defeated. Inuyasha stopped fighting when he realized that kikyou had fallen.

Kagome gather the last of the Shikon no kakera and when they were all held in her hands, they melded.

"**What is your wish?"** The long lost voice of Midoriko voice in her head. But Kagome didn't answer with the pure wish that everyone knew she could make, she gave the now whole Shikon no Tama to Inuyasha.

"I want you to have it, Inuyasha. I love you." It was the final trust of her love.

He took it from her, refusing to meet her eyes. His body was stiff and had she seen the red bleeding into his eyes, Kagome never would have given the Shikon no Tama to him.

"I love Kikyou." He growled. "You killed Kikyou."

Kagome felt as if a hand had clenched her heart and squeezed. "Kikyou died fifty years ago, Inuyasha. That wasn't Kikyou."

Inuyasha wasn't listening. All he seemed to see was Kikyou felled by Kagome's arrows, over and over and over again.

"Kikyou should be here, not you. Go away Kagome, and never come back. I don't want to be forced to kill what is left of Kikyou."

The Shikon no Tama answered. Shippou cried out. Sango concealed the hate for the creature that would take the only family she had left from her. Miroku was always silent. Sesshoumaru was walking away as if he didn't care, but his attention was trained on what was happening behind him.

"But I'm Kagome." She whispered as she began to fade from existence in that time. "I'm Kagome. Can't you see me. Here I am. I'm Kagome." And then she was gone.

It plagued her dreams.

She never remembered.

Try to grip a handful of sand within the confines of your hand and it trickles away as freely as if you had no hold on it. The pieces left are always the ugliest.

(o)

Allore NightShadow

Once again, not as long as I would have liked, but I really wanted to get this out to you. Please tell me what you think so far. Please forgive me for the spelling errors of the previous chapters (and this one if I didn't check it thoroughly enough) I'm off to take an SAT and don't want to make wait.

Thanks to all my reviewers:

Spirit-Wolf25

Gothic ember

Toxicollipop

Scruffy Wolf

Kris

Trouble In Shangri-La

Obsessed-anime-lover

And any others if you weren't mentioned.

Please Review, I love to know what you think, even if it's not so good.


	5. No way out

I looked back over the chapter I posted and was horrified at all the spelling and grammar mistakes made from my typing. If I feel inclined to do so, I will go back and fix it, but in all likelihood, I won't feel so inclined. I will, however, try to be more careful as I type. You see, I am used to typing on my notebook computer and here I am, using a desktop. Typing on a keyboard is not nearly as smooth as typing on a laptop.

Please forgive me for the long, long, long wait. I shall attempt to keep my updates within a week from now on.

Here I go.

Once Upon a Time

Chapter 4

By: Allore NightShadow

Kagome found a folder on the desk of the office she had been designated.

Kagome Higarashi, began the first paper inside the folder.

Within these files you will find your contract and information on out ongoing projects. Please read these files and acquaint yourself with our ongoing projects. You will be required to meet with the manager of each individual project and be ready to oversee said projects.

The next page had a list of the project managers who she would be required to meet with. Kagome's eyes widened when she realized that this list went on for several pages, each floor apparently housing a different 'special project' (or two in some cases) and another manager to meet with. Kagome sighed as she picked up the heavy folder and began sifting through its contents.

The first thing that Kagome brought out was the contract.

Kagome Higarashi… blah, blah, blah… to be in charge of internal projects… blah, blah, blah… to be paid…. Kagome's eyes widened when she looked at what her yearly income would be. That must have been a mistake. She must have mistaken the decimal place for a comma, but no, it seemed to be right. Kagome had never seen that much money.

It went on to tell about full medical coverage and housing provided. Was that something about a company car! There must have been a mistake, Kagome thought. Some horrible mistake. Someone was playing a joke on her. That was it, that had to be it.

Kagome didn't care at the moment. She glanced past the little paragraph at the end that was a confirmation of some sort of privacy and signed the places that asked her to do so.

When she shifted to the files, she was dumbstruck. There were things like youkai and hanyou and humans, everything from marriage to an apparently independently funded policing for youkai infractions.

Kagome pinched the bridge of her nose in order to hold off a migraine.

(o)

"I assume you have no problems."

Kagome looked up to find Taisho-san standing before her desk and looking down on her in the way that those who think they are above the rest of the world look upon everyone else.

Kagome opened her mouth to say something, but closed her mouth before she had a chance to ask. He continued to stare down at her and Kagome opened her mouth again to ask a question, but the words never came out. If it sounded so stupid in her mind, Kagome couldn't imagine how stupid her question would sound aloud.

"You look as if you have something to say." Taisho-san stated.

"Well," Kagome began, then she decided to just blurt it out, "is this some kind of joke? I don't understand this." She took a moment to pull out the contract and open it to the third page. "And this." She pointed to the fourth paragraph.

"That is an out clause standard in all special project contracts. Within twenty-four hours, if you are not able to handle the responsibilities that this job requires, you will be permitted to terminate the contract and return to your previous life."

Taisho paused for a moment before telling her a little more than what he had planned to tell her this day.

"You being offered this position was not random. My company has kept an eye on you since you were very young. While you may have been refused entrance to Tokyo University because of your lack of attendance in secondary school, my company persuaded them to overlook that. You were raised in a way that infused you with the attributes that one would need for this position."

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the prospect of having been watched for most of her life, but wisely said nothing.

"Follow me, Higarashi-san."

"Where are we going?"

"Youkai registration, level fifty-six.

(o)

Sesshoumaru glared across at his brother. The smell of sickness wafted across the air and assaulted Sesshoumaru's sensitive nose. No, not the smell of sickness, the smell of depression. Many human emotions smelled the same.

_He refused to look back, refused to show that the disappearance of Kagome had any effect on him at all. There was something about her nature that had touched him though, something that had made him open up to her a bit, something that made him **respect** her, a feat almost unheard of for a human._

_As he walked away, appearing untouched by the happenings around him, he heard a conversation by the monk and slayer._

"_Where do you think Kagome went?" The slayer asked the monk._

"_You can't really know." He stated, but at the slayer's sharp intake of breath he continued. "The Fates would not be cruel to Kagome who saved even them. The jewel would not purposefully hurt her who was its master. I would assume that she has been sent home."_

_The smell of sadness now came from the slayer. "So we'll never see her again. We'll all be long since dead in 500 years."_

_Sesshoumaru's eyes widened at that. Kagome was from the future. The group had always been careful of what they spoke about with him around and he knew that they were hiding something, but this?_

"_I'll still be here." Shippou announced. "I know her house is next to the God Tree, so I'll wait for her."_

"_Can you really wait that long?" Miroku responded, always the sensible one. "And by that time you will be very different and she will be the same._

_Shippou was oddly serious for such a normally happy child. "Do I really have a choice. Kagome is my kaa-san. I've **got** to wait for her."_

_The Slayer said something to Shippou that Sesshoumaru, with his demon hearing, was unable to decipher and Shippou nodded. In the next instant he was following Sesshoumaru as he walked away._

"_I'm going to stay with you, Sesshy-chan." He grimaced at the nickname. At least it was better than Rin's pet name. Luckily his servants were all too frightened to call him 'Fluffy-sama'. "This way we can wait for Kagome together."_

_Sesshoumaru didn't say anything to the kit, but he didn't say no either. When the cloud formed under his feet to take him to the Palace of the West, it also formed under Shippou and raised them both to the sky_

(o)

When the elevator opened on floor fifty-six, Kagome was amazed. The room was filled to the brim with youkai, all either waiting in a line or sitting in a large but comfortable waiting room. Kagome felt the onrush of youki, but suppressed the feeling so that it wouldn't be so staggering.

As soon as the occupants of the room noticed them there the entire room stood and bowed to Taisho-san. A few mumbled "Taisho-sama" but that was all. He waived them up and the room resumed its previous activity

The room was filled with squalling infants and the room that Taisho-san led her to had its own infant, though this was much, much quieter.

The woman holding the baby stood and bowed. "Taisho-sama" she said. "If this is a bad time, I can come back later." And she started to collect her stuff.

"Not necessary." He said to the woman, then "Continue." To the woman behind the desk.

The woman behind the desk looked to be a neko youkai. Her eyes were that bright green that only felines have with slit pupils and the hair of a calico. She kept one eye on Taisho while she continued whatever it was she had been doing.

"Which family name will the child be going by?"

"Ookami." The woman holding the baby answered. She had red hair with a flower-clip holding her hair back on one side. She was dressed in all white and the baby was wrapped in a bundle of white fur.

"And the child's first name?"

"Shirou."

"He is your fourth child, correct?"

"Yes."

"Pure wolf youkai?"

"Yes."

"And where are you living now?"

"The Western Youkai Settlement. Wolf House. Number fourteen."

The woman behind the desk nodded. "Okay. Shirou Ookami has been entered into out database. I'm going to give you his identification card. He needs to be back in one year to have a picture taken."

Suddenly something next to the desk started to make noise and a card popped out and the calico youkai behind the desk handed it to the woman with the baby.

The woman nodded and stood up, her stuff already gathered, and headed for the door. As she passed by Kagome, the baby reached out and grabbed onto her hair.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Kagome yelled out.

"I am so sorry." The woman said as she carefully extracted Kagome's hair from the baby's grasp.

When the woman looked up at Kagome, she froze. She opened her mouth to say something, but Taisho opened the door and told her with a very pointed look that it was time to leave. She bowed to Taisho before exiting the room. She looked back once before Taisho shut the door.

"Nira, this is Kagome Higarashi. She is now the head of Special Projects and your direct superior. I want you to create a database entry for her and print out a level one security card and level three identification card."

Nira's eyes widened. "Level three?"

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"No, no, of course not."

"When you are done here, have Kira take her to the basement."

"Yes sir."

Taisho went to leave but stopped after he had grasped the door handle. "And Higarashi?"

"Yes?" Kagome asked.

"Since you have not lost face in the midst of youkai, you no longer have an out clause. I will not permit you to terminate your contract." And he left the room.

Kagome was struck by his commanding tone.

"I will not permit you to fight. You will remain here and this Sesshoumaru will to go in your stead."

She was surprised by how his tone did not invoke any urge for her to do as she was told.

(o)

Allore NightShadow

Again, sorry for the long wait. Since the wait was so long, I shall refrain from responding to reviews this chapter since the wait made them no longer applicable.


	6. A collection of Cards

A little over two weeks. Better this time, at least, if not as zoom as I would have liked.

**Once Upon a Time**

Chapter 5

By: _Allore NightShadow_

Nira visibly relaxed as soon as Taisho closed the door behind him.

"Alright, then. Your name?"

"Kagome Higarashi."

Nira typed in the name and waited a few seconds. Her faced reflected confusion and she backed away from the computer as if looking at it from father away would give her a better understanding of whatever it was she was seeing.

"That's strange."

Kagome raised her eyebrows in question.

"There is a file here on you, but it's a computer copy of a file two hundred years old. I highly doubt that you are two hundred years old. Let's see. Kagome Higarashi, born… wait a second." She stopped reciting and looked at the computer screen intensely for a full minute.

Here was a recent birth date, one merely a little over twenty years ago, on a file older than two hundred. It had been created by the original operator of the system. Some had always thought that he had been born with foresight, how he always was away from the wrong place at the right time, but this topped all the other rumors. A file created before a person was born had to show foresight.

At the bottom of the archive was a warning. 'Do not approach.' At the very bottom of the page was a little spinning top, the archive's creator's signature, how Nira was sure that it was he who created this file.

Knowing better than to delete the file, Nira instead put in her administrator's password and edited it.

"Okay," relaxing herself again, "Kagome Higarashi. Birth date?"

Nira nodded when the birth date was the same as the one in the archive. This could be no typing mistake.

"Address?"

Again the answer received was the same as was already there.

Nira continued with the questioning as a formality. It might be better if Kagome didn't know about this.

"Any children?"

"No."

This was the first answer that was not the same as the information in the file. The file said she had one child, but no information about that child was given.

"And you are a miko?"

Kagome nodded.

"Alright. I'm going to print you out an identification card. You need to keep it with you at all times. I really do mean all times, too. If you are found without it, it could mean big trouble."

Nira finished updating the file, adding in the information that was not provided.

The first to print out was the level one security pass. It would allow Kagome access into any part of the building, even Taisho's private office, should she be able to get past his security personnel.

The next to print was the identification card. One it was her full name and where she worked. All other cards except level three had the address as well as most of their file information, but for level three, that was not necessary. In this age, with so many youkai breeding with humans, many in the archives were in some sub-category of level one, which varied from straight human to the nearly powerless hanyou (as well as some powerless inbreeded youkai, but they were not to be spoken of). Level two were the powerful. Level three was limited to twelve youkai and now one human. It was the category for the most powerful.

Nira handed both newly printed cards to Kagome.

"Where did you get this picture from?" Kagome pointed to the excellent picture of her on both of the cards.

Nira pointed to some strange machine above her. "It scans your facial features and puts them together to form a facial model of you. It is the only machine around that will show your true features no matter what kind of glamour you have on."

Nira turned from Kagome and pressed an intercom button. "Kira." She said into it.

"Yea?"

"In here, now." And she turned off the intercom.

A moment later a male version of Nira opened the door. They could have been identical twins if one was not a male and the other a female.

"Taisho-sama requested that you accompany Higarashi-sama to the basement."

Kagome's brow scrunched at the formal use of her name. "Please, don't use sama."

Nira cocked her head to the side. "As you wish."

Kira opened the door and beckoned Kagome to follow.

"And Kira?" Nira called to her brother before he closed the door.

"Yea?"

"Don't do anything stupid, like hit on her. That is your new boss."

He tripped and fell.

(o)

Sesshoumaru took out six aspirin and swallowed them, all in the effort to hold off a headache. His demon blood immediately attacked the offending drugs, but hopefully some of it would escape and hold off his headache. Modern medicine still held nothing to the millennium old herbs, but unfortunately many of the herbs used on demons were very hard to come by.

This was going to be a challenge. Kagome seemed to have forgotten everything that had to do with her past. Had she not forgotten, she would have immediately recognized him. His features in this age were not so different from those he sported five hundred years ago.

This was a difficult situation. She would not be nearly so much help if she did not remember her past. Those of full demon heritage may even reject her eventually if she did not show herself to be powerful enough to control them. The Great Miko, she who defeated of Naraku, would gain respect. Some human miko would not.

(o)

Kagome stepped off the elevator and into the basement. She was led past a few people, no, youkai, being arrested, past an interrogation room and a few holding cells, and into an office.

"What do you want?" Said the woman behind the desk. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

The woman was bent over a pile of papers, furiously writing. Her hair was black and held in a bun by two feathers at the top of her head. She wore a formal kimono, though the sleeves were folded up in a very informal way.

"But Kagu-…" Kira tried to catch her attention.

"I'm busy! Do you understand me? I have to review thirty new reports, write six of my own, train three new recruits and fire two others. I'm just a little stressed out right now! Can you come back later?"

"But General, Taisho-sama sent me down with this girl. She's supposed to see you."

The woman looked up and froze for a moment.

"Kagome?"

"Do I know you?"

"I'm Kagura." She waited for recognition to light Kagome's eyes, but nothing happened. "I am the Head of the youkai police force."

Kagura had to take a moment to think of how to handle this situation. This looked exactly like the Kagome she knew five hundred years ago, but it couldn't be. She was a human and would have died ages ago. But what if it was? No matter. As it was now, she was just a look alike that happened to have the same name.

"You must be the girl Taisho-sama informed me about."

Kagome didn't say anything.

"Sit down and I'll brief you. Kira, don't you have something else you should be doing?"

Kira nodded and stepped out of the room while Kagome took the seat that was in front of Kagura'a desk.

"I hear that Taisho-sama has made you my direct superior, but let me set you straight. You are just a figure head. You don't know anything about what we do here. You may seem to be a station above me, but I am still the boss here. Got it?"

Kagome furrowed her brow and nodded.

"Good. Now that you understand me, I will get to business. This department is that which polices youkai. We handle any youkai you participates in any type of crime, both mortal and immortal. You will find that there are some crimes among youkai that you have never heard of among humans. You will have to read the book of crimes that I will have placed in your office."

Kagura went to her computer and started something printing.

"This is a police identification card. It says you are a general, technically able to command any of the policing unit, but I am telling you to leave it to the professionals. If you come upon unlawful behavior, take care of it, but do not interfere with anything my unit is doing."

Kagome nodded and took the offered card. This woman was a little intimidating. Her naturally red eyes made it hard to see her as anything but an agitated youkai.

"If you ever have any problems or conflicts with the human police, you can show them this card." Kagura handed Kagome another card. She was making a collection of them.

"They believe us to be a special forces department. Anything youkai related that the human police get a hold of must be immediately taken over by us. Understood?"

Kagome nodded again. This Kagura was just a little scary.

"Now, if you don't have any questions," Kagome shook her head "then you can go back to your office and leave me alone."

Kagome quietly left the room. She should have know that this was all too good.

(o)

_Kagome and Sesshoumaru walked into the battlefield, him close behind her so that he would be able to enter Naraku's barrier. Kagura watched them both from the sky, sitting upon her feather._

_She wasn't there so much to spy on them, but rather to be as far from Naraku as he would allow when the final battle came to pass._

_They didn't walk very far before Naraku sensed them, but he did not come out right away. Naraku liked to play with his prey before he destroyed them._

"_And where is your dog-eared companion, miko?" It was Naraku's voice, but it came from a puppet, one that was advancing as the moments passed._

"_Obviously he is not here." She stated. She had learned over the years that an enemy who was not thinking straight, be it from anger or from the frustration of being outwitted, was all the easier to defeat. She had learned this from Inuyasha's fights with his brother. Sesshoumaru was a great strategist._

_He attacked and Sesshoumaru defended. Kagome moved back so that she could aim her arrow. When Naraku extended his body to attack Kagome and Sesshoumaru was not free enough to defend her, she was suddenly whisked into the air._

_"Stupid girl. If your going to defeat Naraku, you can't die now."_

(o)

Allore NightShadow

Okay, I really wanted to make this chapter a bit longer, but I seemed to have gotten a bit of writer's block at this point and didn't want to make you wait any longer. So… here you go.

Thanks to:

Midnight faerie

Cookie Girl- good job spotting that.

IYGIRL

Bluediamond-hime


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